


Message (Heard: 6:02 PM, 14 November 2017)

by chibiwonder



Series: Small Difficulties [6]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, Small Difficulties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 18:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12731601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibiwonder/pseuds/chibiwonder
Summary: Carmen hasn't spoken to her brother in quite some time. There is a logical explanation for this.





	Message (Heard: 6:02 PM, 14 November 2017)

Hey. It's, um, it's Carmen.

Hey, so, um. I didn't think that calling this number was going to work. I never had it in my phone, but I knew it. I know it sometimes. Sometimes, when I remember you. Or, well, I remember that you aren't. See, I know that I don't have a younger brother. His name isn't Carlos. He's not a scientist, and he doesn't live in a town that exists, because Night Vale isn't a real place. It's never on maps when I look for it, so it's not real, or it's just a paper town, but I don't have the map it's on. It's not in the southwest, somewhere around California or Arizona. It isn't surrounded by mountains, and I've never been there.

But... I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. I don't have a brother. I don't remember having a brother. I never did. But I'm calling his phone right now. And I know that the only reason I can do that is because he made a phone for me, so I could. I have that phone in my hands. I found it in my hall closet, and I dialed the number I knew it could reach, and it reached it. And then I'm going to put this phone back in my closet and forget the number, and forget my brother, because he doesn't exist.

But I keep remembering these details about someone I don't know. I remember that you're a scientist. I remember that you're with someone named Cecil. Cecil! Cate is constantly talking about her best Uncle, Uncle Cecil, and I think sometimes that it's her imaginary friend, with his moving tattoos and his really neat third eye. I remember that he has a low voice, and that he hosts a radio show. I remember how happy I was that my little brother was dating someone who seemed so nice. Cecil loves you so much. I could tell that when I met him.

But I didn't meet him. He's not real. I don't remember meeting him, except when I do. I asked Mama about it. "Do you remember that Christmas a few years ago?" I asked, "Do you remember Cecil?" And she asked me "Who is Cecil?" And I said "You painted him a picture. It was just in purple." And she said "I never work just in purple, _Nena_." And she doesn't. She never painted that picture. But she sent it to Night Vale, and my brother hung it in his house.

I don't have a brother. I remember that Papa was so disappointed that he only had a daughter. And I remember that their divorce happened slowly, but they parted alright, and they don't really talk, but that's okay with them.

And I remember that Papa was so disappointed when his only son turned out to be what he called a pansy. And I remember that Mama threw him out of the house over it, because she wanted to protect you, and that the divorce was messy and you thought it was all your fault. I remember both of those things at once.

Sometimes I wonder why. I remember going to Night Vale. I remember leaving Catalina there, because Carlos wasn't going to be home to take care of her and I knew that you would be okay with it. I remember dropping her off with you. I couldn't take her, since I was working on a contract and I couldn't watch her myself.

I remember dropping Cate off with Mama while Carlos and I were away. I remember that when I came home, Cate told me all about her great week without us. She spent it in the desert, she said. She met a nice man with a nice voice and she liked him. And I thought 'What an active imagination.'

I remember that you got married. I think you told me about it. Or maybe Cecil did - He must have. He sounded so excited about it. And I remember that I didn't go to the wedding, and I don't know why. I wish I could have made you a toast. I should have been there. I should have made you a toast, and helped you clean up afterward, and I wish I had done that, but I didn't, because by the time I remembered you again, you had already been married for months.

But then I remember that I don't have a brother. I think sometimes that there might be something wrong with me. But sometimes, when Catalina talks about you and about Cecil, I remember. And she asks me when you're going to come back, or when we'll go visit you again, and I tell her I don't know.

I don't have a brother. He isn't a scientist. He's not married to a radio host named Cecil Palmer. He doesn't live in a town called Night Vale. No one ever got him confused with my boyfriend when I was younger because they both had the same name. He was never rejected by our father, loved by our mother. I never watched him grow up, and I never saw him fall off his bicycle onto a gravel road and skin his palms. I never watched him win first prize at the school science fair with his experiments with seismographs in high school. And he never made this phone that I'm calling you on, and this number doesn't go anywhere or do anything.

And then I remember you.

And I miss you.

I hope you're happy. Really I do.

I love you Carlos.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a sort of goodbye. This series is now more or less over, since I don't think I'll be updating it anymore, and my headcanon has gone so completely against what's now canon. I might come back, but for now, consider this the last piece.
> 
> I bid you all a very fond farewell.


End file.
